Fable
by yume girl 91
Summary: Life wasn't a fairytale; she wasn't a princess. Yet on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Rukia finds herself sucked into the world of one such story. AU IchiRuki
1. Chapter 1

"Happy birthday, Rukia!"

The girls sat in a small booth in an overcrowded café near Gakuen high school. A few late lunchers sent curious stares their way at the thrilled sound of paper being shredded by small hands belonging to an equally petite raven-haired girl. Her friend since childhood, Orihime Inoue leaned forward on the tiny table, an expectant gleam in her slate eyes.

The last half of bright pink wrapping fell away to reveal an emerald green cover embossed on the front and side in curlicue script: Fairytales of a time forgotten. Effort was taken on her part to not toss the present away immediately, though; the smile that graced her lips was decidedly saccharine. "Thanks, 'hime. I was remembering this book the other day," Rukia set it down carefully beside her mocha frappe, pausing to sip at the latter. Orihime nodded, her coppery hair bouncing loosely on her shoulders, "yeah! Remember how you used to read that one story over and over—begging your mom to read it to us?"

Rukia swallowed the next mouthful with difficulty; cheerfully her friend went on unaware of the slight twist of pain that crossed pretty features or darkened violet eyes. Pages rifled, Orihime flipped through the index, searching for the singular fairytale of a princess destined to save her kingdom without the aid of a prince. The others were of the same cut, a dashing and loyal prince rescues the princess under the spell of the evil witch…_and they live happily ever after_. Rukia grimaced, nearly gagging on a particularly large ice cube when Orihime began reading aloud, "Once in a Kingdom far, far away--"

"Shhh!"

"But why?" she had the book open, an illustration above the title heading: The Princess and her trials, was of a young girl seated on a window seat, her voluminous skirts arranged prettily over her legs and her hands folded demurely as she looked out at her kingdom. Rukia glanced toward the people crowding in the line to the registers for emphasis.

Orihime raised an eyebrow as if saying _so what?_

Wordlessly, Rukia looked to the clock ticking above the dessert bar, her eyes widening. _3:00 pm_. The orange-haired girl shrugged, handing over the fairytales. Rukia's father had made it clear, be home after school otherwise she'd be grounded; Orihime knew it and made a shooing motion when Rukia stopped to pull her wallet out to pay for the coffees.

"My treat. Next time you."

"Okay, sure." She turned to walk away from their table, her bag slung over her shoulder. Orihime watched her moment longer then called her back, "hey! You forgot this!" It wasn't easy to go back through the milling throng but she did, knowing she'd regret it later.

Her friend held out the book of fairytales, a slight frown turning the corners of her mouth down, "what's the matter with you, Rukia? You used to love this kind of thing."

Rukia hesitantly took it, her fingers tingled mildly when they made contact with the green cover, "I…I sort of outgrew it, you know?" To soften her words, she added, "not that I don't appreciate it but…" a tiny, sad smile curved her lips, "I just don't believe in fairytales anymore."

~~~*~~~

Rukia lived on a block of houses in a subdivision outside of Tokyo. A bus stop was conveniently situated on the next block within walking-distance if her father chose to relax his strict rules and let her go out _on school nights_. _As if that would ever happen_.

She walked through the front gate, taking her keys out and opening the door. Silence greeted her as well as no Lexus parked in the driveway told her he hadn't gotten home yet. She breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes sliding over to the mantel clock in the family room, 3:25. _Soon_. A responding sound of a motor purring and car door slamming alerted her to his arrival.

Rukia ran up to her room upstairs, not wanting to be in his presence.

_Byakuya Kuchiki could be a terrifying man._

The door opened downstairs, footsteps crossed the length of the foyer, probably noting her school bag deposited in plain sight on the sofa. Rukia stretched out on her bed, Orihime's book of fairytales open in front of her. Breezily she leafed through it, her eyes scanning the pages, unseeing of the words, remembering _other hands that had held a battered book in a loving clasp and read the magical words aloud for the enjoyment of the two girls peeping eagerly from the covers of the double-sized bed_.

"The Princess and her trials," Rukia sat up, carelessly yanking the book with her. A floorboard on the lowest step creaked ominously but she ignored it, raising her voice, "Once in a Kingdom far, far away there lived a goodly King and his daughter, the Princess." Another step creaked and then another, the note from her History Teacher, Ukitake, probably in her father's hand.

_He would be plenty angry_.

"The Goodly King had had a wife, the queen died when the princess was very little. The little Princess had few memories of the tenderhearted queen and was raised by her nursemaid Yoruichi. Blossoming into maidenhood it was decreed that upon her seventeenth birth year, the princess would inherit the kingdom and rule in her father's—" Rukia paused, the curtains hanging on the window above her bed had begun to flutter, "—stead. This the princess thought of on the eve of her coronation. Kindly villagers were in the square threading up crepe streamers to celebrate their beautiful princess's rule…what the—!"

Light flowed from the creamy pages, illuminating the first words of the princess.

'_Oh! If I could only be assured of my people's happiness then I could be the happiest princess in the entire kingdom!_'

Rukia flung the book from her grasp; the knob rattled, she paid no attention to it. Couldn't. As gradually things became smaller, shrinking diminutively until…with horror she realized she was being sucked into the crisp pages. Her vision went spiraling into blackness as she vanished into the book. The cover settling with a _snicket_ of finality, closed upon the bedspread. Byakuya Kuchiki impatiently swung the door to his daughter's room open, not seeing her and not bothering to look into the story of _The Princess and her trials_ being _rewritten_.

~~~To be continued?~~~

AN: don't own Bleach. :) How did you like it, hmm? Let me know! Should I keep it?


	2. Chapter 2

"Princess!"

The hurried clatter of footsteps on the gray stone floor accompanied the decidedly feminine voice. Hands gently helped her rise from the floor where she had fallen, the open window behind her. Rukia still slightly dazed from the shock of being absorbed into the book, stared unbelievingly into the face of the woman who steadied her.

"Are you hurt, Princess?"

"Y-Yoruichi?!" she couldn't fight the enormity of the shock that came upon her with the living, breathing image of the nursemaid from the story in front of her. The woman nodded slightly and released her, stepping back, "yes it is I…" Rukia now noticed she was attired in a close-fitting gown that rustled at every movement she made. _What the hell_…

Every aspect of the room was the same. High-vaulted ceilings with elegant designs carved into the stonework. An adjoining room was visible to the side through a separate doorway while straight ahead was another that Rukia remembered led out into the rest of the Castle. A slight shuffle of movement made her look inquiringly to Yoruichi. "The son of the Captain of the Guard is here. You wished to meet him?" it was phrased as a question leaving her to speculate this wasn't in the original story.

_Okay girl…time to wake up now_…

Yoruichi looked at her from to time a little worriedly as they entered into the private sitting room. Their skirts rustled alerting the young man that waited, his back to the door. He was tall as she saw once he turned and humbly sunk to one knee in a semblance of a bow. Embarrassed, she tried to pull away her hand when he took it and pressed a kiss on the back. "My Lady…" he said quietly, "I swear I will protect you always—"

She couldn't take this anymore. "I'm not…what I mean to say is… I'M NOT YOUR PRINCESS!!!!!"

~~~~*~~~~

Her words didn't sound so convincing even to her once they left her mouth.

"Princess...what're you saying?" confused amber eyes searched her face. Rukia felt her cheeks grow hot at such intense scrutiny. "J-Just what I said! My name is Rukia—"

Yoruichi came forward, "of course, dear. You are Princess _Rukia_." Laying a hand on her shoulder, the nursemaid shared a half glance filled with meaning to the young guard which Rukia correctly interrupted as: _pay no heed for hers are the words spoken out of tiredness and burden_.

He let go of her hand and she was only vaguely aware of how warm his touch had been when she was steered away.

~~~~Outside of the book~~~~

Byakuya Kuchiki had only a moment to ponder the apparent disobedience of his daughter before the doorbell rang. Going down the stairs and to the front door, he wasn't surprised to see Orihime standing on the doormat, smiling sheepishly.

"Hello, Mr. Kuchiki, is Rukia home? I forgot there was something I wanted to borrow of hers." She had of course made that up on the walk over to the house. Having caught a glimpse of Rukia's expression upon seeing the fairytale book still half-swathed in wrapping paper had made Orihime think she had done something wrong in buying it for her. Now she just wanted to see if she was all right. A phone call might've sufficed but…

"Rukia isn't here." His voice was cool, distant. Orihime's expression faltered as she could sense his impatience growing. "Can I just run upstairs and get it? It'll only take a minute or so?"

He nodded his ascent and stood back allowing her entry. She had a moment to flash a quick smile gratefully to him before taking the steps two at a time to the landing and the open door to the left that was Rukia's bedroom. Stepping inside, Orihime pulled the door shut gently behind her and went immediately to the desk to scribble out a hasty apology.

As her hand fell on a sheaf of notepaper, her eye happened to alight on a familiar object lying spine open on the floor beside the desk chair. She bent slightly and retrieved it; at once realizing it was the book she had given her. Orihime turned it over and looked at the page it had been left at.

Yoruichi came forward, "of course, dear. You are Princess Rukia." Laying a hand on her shoulder, the nursemaid shared a half glance filled with meaning to the young guard, which the Princess correctly interrupted as: pay no heed for hers are the words spoken out of tiredness and burden.

_So Rukia shared the same name as the Princess_? Orihime couldn't remember if in the story that the princess had ever had a name. Frowning, she sat down on the edge of the bed and continued reading, casting a wary glance to the closed door once.

"_No! You don't understand! Listen to me…my name is Rukia Kuchiki. I'm dreaming—"_

_The nursemaid attempted to calm the agitated girl down by soothing her with a lullaby she had been sung in the cradle. Princess Rukia, upon hearing the song whispered softly dissolved into tears. "My mother…"_

Orihime's brow furrowed.

"…_used to sing that to me."_

_Yoruichi guided the Princess to the great curtained bed and drew back the topmost blanket of fur. "Yes…" the nursemaid eased the Princess down, tenderly brushing aside strands of hair from her face. "Your dear mother, Lady Hisana taught it to me a long time ago." The princess allowed herself to be laid down and comforted as an ill child is. _

"_Now rest…" the nursemaid said, smoothing the covers, "your presence is required at the ceremony tonight."_

"_Ceremony? I…I have school tomorrow. I can't…" the Princess mumbled, sleep overcoming her._

_The nursemaid frowned slightly, not understanding the confusion besetting the Princess. Maybe a tonic was needed from the arch mage for tonight…_

Orihime snapped the book shut, her eyes wide. _It couldn't be_—Tentatively she opened back to where she had been reading to see nothing had changed. _School tomorrow_. The words leapt out at her and she jumped, the book falling from her hands when the door opened suddenly.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Byakuya asked coldly, looking in. Orihime nodded briskly and snatched the book up from the floor. "Y-yeah. Thanks Mr. Kuchiki." Hurriedly she brushed past him and went downstairs. She knew he looked into the room she had just vacated, wondering still why his daughter had seemingly violated curfew. She was almost afraid he'd accuse her of some knowledge of Rukia's whereabouts. _But she couldn't tell him. He'd never believe her in a million years…nobody would._

Beneath the illumination of a streetlamp a few houses down from Rukia's. Orihime opened the book once more…it was at the coronation scene already and the attempted murder of the Princess.

~To be continued~

AN: Took me a long time to do. :) Thanks for reading. No flames. Please review. :)


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